Gig Harbor Police Respond to Reports of Solicitation in Local Neighborhoods

According to Gig Harbor Police Chief Mike Davis, there have been several reports of solicitors traveling throughout the community selling magazines or seeking donations for a non-profit organization.

On Feb. 19, police were dispatched to a report of three men and a woman driving in a white van and harassing customers at the Kitsap Bank. The caller reported that the solicitors were holding the customers’ vehicle door handles before people could get into their cars.

When police located the white Ford van, records indicated that the vehicle was registered out of Michigan. The driver was licensed out of Tennessee and there were more than four men and women seated inside the van. They told police they were collecting donations for a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization.

On Feb. 20, police were dispatched to a suspicious person knocking on doors in the Borgen Loop neighborhood next to Albertsons. The officer located the woman, who was selling magazines and provided some documentation of the magazine sales.

On Feb. 25, police received a call regarding a man, who was going door to door in the 9100 block of North Harborview Drive selling books "for the betterment of the community". It was reported the male did not present any identification to the caller.

Police later located the subject, who had a distinctive Batman tattoo on the bridge of his nose. He said he was collecting donations for a 501(c)(3) non-profit group called Graceful Hands and provided some documents. He said his group travels all 48 states seeking donations, some of which goes to his commission. He said he was from Missouri.

According to the Graceful Hands’ website, the non-profit organization provides basic on-the-job training for vulnerable members of the society and assist with housing, food and transportation.

The same day, police observed the same white Ford van leaving the residential neighborhood located directly behind Target, but police did not receive any calls from residents in that area.

To report any suspicious behaviors in your neighborhood, contact Gig Harbor Police at 253-851-2236 or Pierce County Sheriff’s Department at 253-798-4940.